Application of Several Advanced Oxidation Processes for Degradation of 4-Chlorophenol From Aqueous Solution Publisher



Mohammadi AS¹ ; Asgari G¹ ; Ebrahimi A^{2, 3} ; Attar HM^{2, 3} ; Sharifi Z⁴ Show Affiliations
Source: International Journal of Environmental Health Engineering Published:2013

Abstract

Aims: In this work, degradation of 4-chlorophenol (4-CP) was investigated in aqueous solutions using several oxidation systems involving ultraviolet/(UV)/H2O2, microwave (MW)/H2O2, and ultrasonic (US)/Fenton systems. Materials and Methods: Three pilot plant reactors consist of a photolytic reactor, a modified domestic MW, and an US bath reactor of 22 kHz frequency were constructed and separately used in batch mode. The effects of several operation parameters such as pH of the solution ranging 3-10, H2O2 initial concentration ranging from 0.005 to 0.2 mol/l, and reaction time were examined. Concentration changes of 4-CP were determined using a spectrophotometer at an absorption wavelength of 500 nm. Results: The results show that the oxidation rate was influenced by many factors, such as the pH value, reaction times, and the amount of H2O2 concentration. The optimum conditions obtained for the best degradation rate were pH = 7, H2O2 concentration of about 0.05 mol/l and pH = 10, H2O2 concentration of about 0.1 mol/l for UV/H2O2 and MW/H2O2 system, respectively. For US/Fenton system, the highest 4-CP degradation was achieved in pH = 3, H2O2 concentration of about 0.05 mol/l in the percent of 0.025 mmol Fe/l. The highest 4-CP removal rate in optimum conditions of pH and concentration of H2O2, in UV/H2O2, MW/H2O2, and US/Fenton systems was >99% over the retention time of 40 min, 85% after 180 min, and >99% after 40 min, respectively. Conclusion: Based on the results of this study, the UV/H2O2 and US/H2O2 are successfully applicable for degradation of 4-CP in aqueous solution. Also, the kinetic study represented that the US/H2O2 is capable of removing 4-CP slightly rather than UV/H2O2 process. Copyright: © 2013 Mohammadi AS. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.